THE GUIDING LIGHT: A SELECTION OF QUOTATIONS FROM MY FAVOURITE BOOKS

Category Non-Fiction
Format PB
Imprint
Price 295

ISBN: 978-81-291-3486-8
Pages: 184 pages
Date: March 2015

ABOUT THIS BOOK

From his schooldays to this day, when he is over eight decades old, Dr Kalam has been a lover of the written word. In The Guiding Light, he chooses the finest examples of writings from the numerous books, religious texts, philosophical tracts and poetry that he has read over the years. These words have impacted and shaped his thinking, helped him in times of need and made him the person he is. He has quoted from these works in his writings and lectures that have inspired millions of people he has met all over the world.
Included here are extracts from the works of writers as diverse as Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jiddu Krishnamurti, William Shakespeare, John Milton and Mahatma Gandhi; as well as lines from the Holy Koran, Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, the Thirukural and a myriad other works.
Eclectic, erudite and thought-provoking, The Guiding Light is a treasure house of wisdom and deep reflection. Beautiful and immortal, the pieces here will inspire generations of readers as they have inspired Dr Kalam.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Born on 15 October 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam specialized in aeronautical engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India and has received honorary doctorates from forty-five universities and institutions in India and abroad. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan (1981), the Padma Vibhushan (1990) and India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna (1997). He has also received the King Charles II medal (2007), the Woodrow Wilson Award (2008), the Hoover Award (2008) and the International Von Karman Wings Award (2009) among other international accolades. Dr Kalam became the eleventh President of India on 25 July 2002. His focus and greatest ambition remains fnding ways to transform India into a developed nation.